Cassidy
Arcane
C
Strike the Earth!
Strike the Earth!
-
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On the shoulders of giants: a new multiple choices LP!
- Thread starter Curufinwe
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2011
- Messages
- 2,835
B, let's be fantasy Carthage
Urist McLurker
Learned
C
Computer Gamer Refugee
Learned
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2012
- Messages
- 382
Been out of the loop on this one for a bit, came back and suddenly it was dead.
I always assumed that people who voted to support the weilder were angling towards a fire theoracy. Gotta admit the sudden turnaround stumped me. It was like doing A, B, C, D, E, F, and then being suprised when the next up was G.
I for one welcome our new fire overlords.
I always assumed that people who voted to support the weilder were angling towards a fire theoracy. Gotta admit the sudden turnaround stumped me. It was like doing A, B, C, D, E, F, and then being suprised when the next up was G.
I for one welcome our new fire overlords.
m4davis
Scholar
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2012
- Messages
- 557
well I hate to surprise you but our fire overlords already killed us were starting again as a new tribe make your decision look at the previous page to find out the options
1-2-10-4-2
Ok, C wins. Thought we'd have more vote for the nomadic tribe, but I was wrong, it was dead last. Second place goes to the traders. But the underground civilization takes it by a good margin (more votes than all the other options combined). Very well.
From time immemorial, we had lived here, in this great cave. An endless night was all we knew, lit only by our fires and by the plants we harvested from the hard, rocky, soil.
There was not much food. A lake covered the southern part of the great cave, filled with blind fishes who were the lion's share of our diet.
Our most ancient, dark legends spoke of a great day of reckoning. Our ancestors used to live in a paradise, green and lit by the life-giving sun, where food was abundant and so was happiness. But we had committed a terrible sin, a sin that could never be washed clean. Because of that sin, the paradise above was destroyed. We were forced to escape, escape deep underground through paths that are now lost to memory, to hide our shame.
As far as we could remember, three settlements were contained in the cave.
One, our capital, where most of us, thousands, lived, was in the northwestern corner, dominated by the royal palace and the temple of the Chosen.
Just to the south a series of tunnels led away from our cave, steeply heading downwards, even deeper. Ancient texts warned us not to explore those caves, talking of an ancient evil that could be awakened by any excursion down there. Those tunnels were known as the Sealed Corridors.
The second settlement, much smaller, with only a few hundreds living there, was in the northeastern corner, just a few hours away from the capital at a brisk walk. It was the miners' home. Carved into the walls nearby were the mining tunnels, leading to our supplies of iron, coal and other minerals.
The third, a small fishing village on the shores of the lake, from where our food comes.
You ask about the Chosen?
To talk of the Chosen you must first understand what the greatest challenge we face is. Food. Nothing lives down here, except the fish in the lake, the glowing lichens we use as our light source and a few, sparse patches of mushrooms.
In centuries past, our numbers had grown to the point the lake could not sustain us anymore. Thus we were forced to take steps, to avoid starvation.
On the eastern part of the cave, other, ancient tunnels opened. Leading where, nobody knew. They were vast, extending for mile after mile, unending, a labyrinth that nobody could explore. Many scouting parties were sent in, never to come back.
Each year the elders of the nation would gather in the temple, at the time a simple great hall. A feast was held, to celebrate their lives. Then they were sent, with just the supplies they could carry on their backs, in the tunnels. Chosen to be lost, so that the nation could survive. To be Chosen was considered the last, greatest service a person could do for the nation, but not everyone complied. Some were scared, terrified even, to just leave their lives behind and disappear forever in those tunnels. Thus the tradition started taking religious undertones. To refuse the Choice was the greatest shame a man or a woman could put on themselves. They would be spurned by their friends and families and forced to leave anyway, without supplies and celebration, their names erased from any record.
Last year, something happened. From the tunnels strange beasts suddenly emerged, human-like in form but bent, deranged, wrong somehow. They swarmed out of the eastern caves and started killing everyone they could lay their claws on.
We barely beat them back, during that first, horrible attack, that came to be known as the Day of death.
That spurred us to become more militant. To use our minerals and our knowledge of metal work to build weapons. Swords, spears, mauls and heavy armor, suited for a defensive war. We built fortifications at the entrance of those tunnels, since the monsters kept coming back, in greater and greater numbers.
With the new weapons and the fortifications in place we could hold out forever. The Choice was suspended, since we could not send our elders to just die at the hands of those beasts. Food started becoming more and more scarce.
And thus we come to today.
King Restil, fourth of his name, a fierce traditionalist, reached the age of Choice. He took up his shield and his armor, gathered all the men and women of his age he could convince and led them in the eastern tunnels, to fight a last battle, determined not to die of old age and ashamed. From the screams of terror that could be heard echoing by the men manning the fortifications, his wish was soon granted...
His son, Saras, first of his name, was a man of a different mould. He was young, reckless, yet blessed by a fierce spirit and great charisma. During his reign, he would change the destiny of our nation...
(Excerpt from the Book of Emergence, age unknown)
The council chamber in the royal palace was in chaos. King Saras, barely a teenager, was sitting on his seat at the head of the table, silently listening to the shouting councillors.
The elder men were arguing, the usual argument. The beast's attacks were growing more fierce by the day and, while the fortifications still held, everyone was getting scared. The numbers and frequency of the attacks kept increasing, with no end in sight. The forges kept working day and night to produce more weapons and more armor, yet it seemed the supplies were never enough. The army general was getting jittery, requesting more and more men for his troops.
The problem was that the nation had no long-term strategy to face this crysis. Without the Choice, food stocks were starting to become dangerously low.
The army general kept clamoring: "We can't just sit here and do nothing while the attacks increase. The beasts are strong and fierce, yes, they are scary, yes, but there is not a chance they can stand up to our army if we finally stop thumbing our asses and attack. They have to come from somewhere, we just have to find that somewhere and kill them!"
His second in command, a younger, cooler man, shook his head: "Sir, do I have to remind you that every single scouting expedition that was sent before this mess started didn't make it back? You know that our history, both ancient and recent, confirms this – he stopped, pondering – there are other tunnels leading away from our cave, perhaps it is time we sent someone to explore those. Might find other food sources there."
The head priest gave a strangled yelp and stood up: "Blasphemer! Our most sacred and ancient text warn never to breach the Sealed Corridors. Only evil can come to such an expedition! Food supplies aren't so low it's a real concern, yet. The attacks from the beasts started just an year ago, we just have to hold out another bit, reinforce our fortifications and they'll stop coming, sooner or later!"
At this, the army general started shouting again, trying to drown out the priest's voice. Other advisors clamored to say their piece, until the room fell in chaos once again.
The young king frowned. He suddenly slammed his palm on the table's stone surface, yelling: "ENOUGH! I am the king. The final decision is mine. And I have decided."
Ok Codexians, first real vote of new course. Will you:
A. Train a strong, armed expedition, to cut through the attacking beasts and search where they come from?
B. Form scouting parties to head in the Sealed Corridors, to explore them and perhaps find new sources of food?
C. Do nothing and wait out the attacks. The beasts are throwing themselves at you in increasing numbers and you're managing to kill them off so far. They can't be numberless, sooner or later this onslaught must end.
Ok, C wins. Thought we'd have more vote for the nomadic tribe, but I was wrong, it was dead last. Second place goes to the traders. But the underground civilization takes it by a good margin (more votes than all the other options combined). Very well.
From time immemorial, we had lived here, in this great cave. An endless night was all we knew, lit only by our fires and by the plants we harvested from the hard, rocky, soil.
There was not much food. A lake covered the southern part of the great cave, filled with blind fishes who were the lion's share of our diet.
Our most ancient, dark legends spoke of a great day of reckoning. Our ancestors used to live in a paradise, green and lit by the life-giving sun, where food was abundant and so was happiness. But we had committed a terrible sin, a sin that could never be washed clean. Because of that sin, the paradise above was destroyed. We were forced to escape, escape deep underground through paths that are now lost to memory, to hide our shame.
As far as we could remember, three settlements were contained in the cave.
One, our capital, where most of us, thousands, lived, was in the northwestern corner, dominated by the royal palace and the temple of the Chosen.
Just to the south a series of tunnels led away from our cave, steeply heading downwards, even deeper. Ancient texts warned us not to explore those caves, talking of an ancient evil that could be awakened by any excursion down there. Those tunnels were known as the Sealed Corridors.
The second settlement, much smaller, with only a few hundreds living there, was in the northeastern corner, just a few hours away from the capital at a brisk walk. It was the miners' home. Carved into the walls nearby were the mining tunnels, leading to our supplies of iron, coal and other minerals.
The third, a small fishing village on the shores of the lake, from where our food comes.
You ask about the Chosen?
To talk of the Chosen you must first understand what the greatest challenge we face is. Food. Nothing lives down here, except the fish in the lake, the glowing lichens we use as our light source and a few, sparse patches of mushrooms.
In centuries past, our numbers had grown to the point the lake could not sustain us anymore. Thus we were forced to take steps, to avoid starvation.
On the eastern part of the cave, other, ancient tunnels opened. Leading where, nobody knew. They were vast, extending for mile after mile, unending, a labyrinth that nobody could explore. Many scouting parties were sent in, never to come back.
Each year the elders of the nation would gather in the temple, at the time a simple great hall. A feast was held, to celebrate their lives. Then they were sent, with just the supplies they could carry on their backs, in the tunnels. Chosen to be lost, so that the nation could survive. To be Chosen was considered the last, greatest service a person could do for the nation, but not everyone complied. Some were scared, terrified even, to just leave their lives behind and disappear forever in those tunnels. Thus the tradition started taking religious undertones. To refuse the Choice was the greatest shame a man or a woman could put on themselves. They would be spurned by their friends and families and forced to leave anyway, without supplies and celebration, their names erased from any record.
Last year, something happened. From the tunnels strange beasts suddenly emerged, human-like in form but bent, deranged, wrong somehow. They swarmed out of the eastern caves and started killing everyone they could lay their claws on.
We barely beat them back, during that first, horrible attack, that came to be known as the Day of death.
That spurred us to become more militant. To use our minerals and our knowledge of metal work to build weapons. Swords, spears, mauls and heavy armor, suited for a defensive war. We built fortifications at the entrance of those tunnels, since the monsters kept coming back, in greater and greater numbers.
With the new weapons and the fortifications in place we could hold out forever. The Choice was suspended, since we could not send our elders to just die at the hands of those beasts. Food started becoming more and more scarce.
And thus we come to today.
King Restil, fourth of his name, a fierce traditionalist, reached the age of Choice. He took up his shield and his armor, gathered all the men and women of his age he could convince and led them in the eastern tunnels, to fight a last battle, determined not to die of old age and ashamed. From the screams of terror that could be heard echoing by the men manning the fortifications, his wish was soon granted...
His son, Saras, first of his name, was a man of a different mould. He was young, reckless, yet blessed by a fierce spirit and great charisma. During his reign, he would change the destiny of our nation...
(Excerpt from the Book of Emergence, age unknown)
The council chamber in the royal palace was in chaos. King Saras, barely a teenager, was sitting on his seat at the head of the table, silently listening to the shouting councillors.
The elder men were arguing, the usual argument. The beast's attacks were growing more fierce by the day and, while the fortifications still held, everyone was getting scared. The numbers and frequency of the attacks kept increasing, with no end in sight. The forges kept working day and night to produce more weapons and more armor, yet it seemed the supplies were never enough. The army general was getting jittery, requesting more and more men for his troops.
The problem was that the nation had no long-term strategy to face this crysis. Without the Choice, food stocks were starting to become dangerously low.
The army general kept clamoring: "We can't just sit here and do nothing while the attacks increase. The beasts are strong and fierce, yes, they are scary, yes, but there is not a chance they can stand up to our army if we finally stop thumbing our asses and attack. They have to come from somewhere, we just have to find that somewhere and kill them!"
His second in command, a younger, cooler man, shook his head: "Sir, do I have to remind you that every single scouting expedition that was sent before this mess started didn't make it back? You know that our history, both ancient and recent, confirms this – he stopped, pondering – there are other tunnels leading away from our cave, perhaps it is time we sent someone to explore those. Might find other food sources there."
The head priest gave a strangled yelp and stood up: "Blasphemer! Our most sacred and ancient text warn never to breach the Sealed Corridors. Only evil can come to such an expedition! Food supplies aren't so low it's a real concern, yet. The attacks from the beasts started just an year ago, we just have to hold out another bit, reinforce our fortifications and they'll stop coming, sooner or later!"
At this, the army general started shouting again, trying to drown out the priest's voice. Other advisors clamored to say their piece, until the room fell in chaos once again.
The young king frowned. He suddenly slammed his palm on the table's stone surface, yelling: "ENOUGH! I am the king. The final decision is mine. And I have decided."
Ok Codexians, first real vote of new course. Will you:
A. Train a strong, armed expedition, to cut through the attacking beasts and search where they come from?
B. Form scouting parties to head in the Sealed Corridors, to explore them and perhaps find new sources of food?
C. Do nothing and wait out the attacks. The beasts are throwing themselves at you in increasing numbers and you're managing to kill them off so far. They can't be numberless, sooner or later this onslaught must end.
Quetzacoatl
Liturgist
Why can't we use the beast corpses as a new food source?
Voting A
EDIT: Flippity flop
Voting A
EDIT: Flippity flop
"human-like in form but bent, deranged, wrong somehow". Would YOU eat that?
Quetzacoatl
Liturgist
Somebody would have at least suggested the idea. Maybe when we get desperate enough the option will be available.
Now, first consideration. YAY new nation! FUn times!
I bet that these people are the descendants of some idiots that disturbed an elemental gem and saw their lands destroyed. Sounds familiar? Yep, another tribe I know did the very same thing :p And they escaped underground....
About the options, they all suck! How nice. I'd avoid option C, the do nothing option never works imo. Besides I seriously doubt these enemies will slow down. If anything, more of them will come. No, that's not an option.
Which leaves A and B. I do not think we can actually defeat these enemies with the resources we have. They seem too many. But picking A might allow us to know where they are coming from, and maybe open a path for us to escape to the surface. It also might not however.
B is instead a cypher. We could find resources there, we could find allies, or we could find enemies. But I do not think we will see a way to leave the underground if w explore those tunnels. Currently undecided between A and B, will think a bit more and see what others post
I bet that these people are the descendants of some idiots that disturbed an elemental gem and saw their lands destroyed. Sounds familiar? Yep, another tribe I know did the very same thing :p And they escaped underground....
About the options, they all suck! How nice. I'd avoid option C, the do nothing option never works imo. Besides I seriously doubt these enemies will slow down. If anything, more of them will come. No, that's not an option.
Which leaves A and B. I do not think we can actually defeat these enemies with the resources we have. They seem too many. But picking A might allow us to know where they are coming from, and maybe open a path for us to escape to the surface. It also might not however.
B is instead a cypher. We could find resources there, we could find allies, or we could find enemies. But I do not think we will see a way to leave the underground if w explore those tunnels. Currently undecided between A and B, will think a bit more and see what others post
Don't know, no idea, the possibility never crossed my mind. Urist McLurker
Learned
B, might flop to C.
Stygian Lurker
Liturgist
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2011
- Messages
- 577
B
Esquilax
Arcane
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2010
- Messages
- 4,833
Awesome introduction, Curufinwe. Would have voted for B in the previous choice, but this is very cool.
Our young king is bold, C wouldn't suit him and it's terrible in the long-run. The real problem here is that our way of life is unsustainable. However, according to the update, going into the sealed caves might make an already difficult (Morlocks attacking us) much worse:
It's important to note that our people's customs arose as a response to threats to their survival, so if our religious texts are telling us "DON'T GO INTO THE SEALED CORRIDORS!" we should probably listen to them. The last time we tampered with dark, powerful forces beyond our control, the mountaintop surrounding the Obsidian Embers erupted and nearly killed everybody. The religious custom of The Choice came because we didn't have enough food to support our people, so the elderly would wander off elsewhere to die and if they were lucky, eke out an existence someplace else in the caves. So yeah, our religious beliefs, while dogmatic, are helpful to our survival.
Sending an expedition of warriors would be extremely dangerous, but it would allow us to learn more about the enemy so we can defeat them. It would give us real knowledge and a way to eliminate the threat without the "let's hide behind our walls" tactic that hasn't worked out so well for us. We can't hide behind the walls forever, and our religious beliefs (which have been passed down from our ancestors to warn us of dangers) strongly urge us not to go into the Sealed Corridors.
On that note, I'm voting A.
Our young king is bold, C wouldn't suit him and it's terrible in the long-run. The real problem here is that our way of life is unsustainable. However, according to the update, going into the sealed caves might make an already difficult (Morlocks attacking us) much worse:
It's important to note that our people's customs arose as a response to threats to their survival, so if our religious texts are telling us "DON'T GO INTO THE SEALED CORRIDORS!" we should probably listen to them. The last time we tampered with dark, powerful forces beyond our control, the mountaintop surrounding the Obsidian Embers erupted and nearly killed everybody. The religious custom of The Choice came because we didn't have enough food to support our people, so the elderly would wander off elsewhere to die and if they were lucky, eke out an existence someplace else in the caves. So yeah, our religious beliefs, while dogmatic, are helpful to our survival.
Sending an expedition of warriors would be extremely dangerous, but it would allow us to learn more about the enemy so we can defeat them. It would give us real knowledge and a way to eliminate the threat without the "let's hide behind our walls" tactic that hasn't worked out so well for us. We can't hide behind the walls forever, and our religious beliefs (which have been passed down from our ancestors to warn us of dangers) strongly urge us not to go into the Sealed Corridors.
On that note, I'm voting A.
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